Not In Our Town Bloomington-Normal [NIOT] will screen a new documentary Sunday, Oct. 18, examining how Minnesota residents stood up for their immigrant neighbors.
The free screening of Minnesota Neighbors starts at 3 p.m. at the Normal Theater.
Film director and NIOT founder Patrice O’Neill said the film covers the winter of 2026, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement [ICE] intensified its operations in Minneapolis and St. Paul under an initiative known as Operation Metro Surge.
“Like millions of other people, I was watching television and seeing scenes from the streets of Minneapolis. It's really hard to look at armed men walking through the streets, punching people, pushing them over, dragging people from their cars, and think, ‘Is this really our country?’” O’Neill said.
During this operation, 3,000 ICE agents converged in the Twin Cities [Minneapolis and St. Paul], according to O’Neill.
O’Neill said the film is about more than just immigration enforcement. She described the events as involving racial profiling and what she called “a fundamental breach of the rule of law in our country.”
The documentary follows residents who responded to the enforcement operations by supporting their neighbors through protests and acts of everyday kindness, including delivering groceries, doing laundry for people in hiding, helping children get to school and warning about ICE activity.
“There was a lot of violence, and ordinary people decided to stand up and say, ‘We don't want this to happen in our community,’” O’Neill said.
O’Neill said she was inspired by the compassion and courage she witnessed while interviewing sources.
The film features a range of voices, including immigrants, clergy, teachers, local officials, doctors, journalists, unions and business owners. O’Neill conducted most of the interviews seen in the film.
Among the moments that stayed with her were residents continuing to help one another despite obstacles and risks.
“Sometimes there was a demonstration where 50,000 people marched, and it was 22 degrees below zero,” O’Neill said. “I was so inspired by that because I think it shows us what's possible in a community.”
'It's about all of us.'
O’Neill said the film’s message extends far beyond Minnesota.
“What residents in communities across the U.S. are grappling with is, ‘What do we do in the face of this? What if there is a breach of the rule of law, what do we do? How do we react when our community is in crisis? And how do we support immigrants who may be targeted completely unfairly?” O’Neill said.
According to O’Neill, there were 50,000 deportations across the U.S. in August alone.
“It's about all of us. It's about our entire country,” O’Neill said.
When asked what O’Neill hopes viewers leave the theater thinking about, she hoped a few internal questions will be asked.
“I hope people will think, ‘Who am I in this story? What would I do if this happened in my town? And who am I?’” O’Neill said.
A panel discussion will follow the screening, moderated by WGLT’s Lauren Warnecke. Panelists will include Judge James Knecht, The Immigration Project director Charlotte Alvarez, immigration advocate Ricardo Diaz, Normal Police Officer Brad Park, and BloNo Helps founder Olenka Moss.
The first screening of this film took place in Minneapolis on Thursday. The Bloomington-Normal screening will be the third screening of the film. After Bloomington-Normal, it will screen in California, Boston and many other communities.
O’Neill said Bloomington-Normal was a natural place to bring the film due to the community’s longstanding involvement with NIOT.
“Bloomington-Normal has one of the most established and successful Not in Our Town chapters in the country,” O’Neill said. “We always learn so much from people in Bloomington-Normal about how community stands together.”
NIOT launched in 1995 with the release of the PBS film that documented the Billings, Montana, citizens who stood up for their neighbors after a series of hate crimes. The Bloomington-Normal chapter of NIOT launched in December 1995.
O’Neill said films can help people understand experiences outside their own communities.
“Films make it possible for us to see each other in a way that we don't normally get to see each other, and when we see a story from another community, it helps us talk about our own,” O’Neill said.
The screening is co-sponsored by the ACLU of Central Illinois, The Immigration Project, Bloomington and Normal Trades and Labor Assembly, the Bloomington-Normal branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, YWCA McLean County, Prairie Pride Coalition, BloNo Helps, the McLean County Interfaith Alliance and NIOT.
“People know what's at stake, and this story needed to get out,” O’Neill said.
